How to search Google for missed competition wins!

1. Always use quotes around your name

If you just type your name into Google (e.g., Diana Coke), the results will include pages with the word “Diana” and completely separate pages with the word “Coke”. You will get millions of useless results!

Instead, always put your name in quotation marks:

• "Diana Coke"

This tells Google to only show pages where those words appear right next to each other in that exact order. (Note: If you are searching for a single-word social media handle like @superluckydi, you don’t need the quotes)

2. Add the winning words

Once you have your name in quotes, add a combination of keywords to narrow the search down to prize announcements.

To search for multiple keywords at once, type OR in capital letters between your search terms. This will show results for ‘Congratulations to Diana Coke’, ‘Our winner is Diana Coke’ etc. 

• "Diana Coke" winner OR winners OR congratulations

Without the OR, Google would only show websites that contain all of those words. You might want to also try ‘runner-up’ or ‘runners-up’ in your search. 

3. Use the site: trick to search social media

We all know that Facebook and Instagram’s search bars are completely useless for finding specific posts or tags. But you can actually use Google to search inside these platforms for you!

By typing site: followed by the web address, you can tell Google to only look at that specific website. 

• For Facebook: site:facebook.com "Diana Coke" winner OR congratulations

• For Instagram: site:instagram.com "@superluckydi" congratulations OR winner

• For X (Twitter): site:x.com "@superluckydi" congratulations OR winner

4. Filter results by date

If you have been comping for years, a Google search might bring up a prize you won back in 2018, so you should filter the results by date to see the most recent. When you get your results, click on the Tools button (just below the search bar on desktop, or swipe across the menu underneath the search bar on mobile) – it’s set by default to Any time. Change this to past week, past month, or year.

5. Have a common (or celebrity) name?

If you happen to share a name with someone famous, you can exclude words from your search results by adding a dash (minus sign) immediately before the word you want to hide.

• "Chris Martin" winner -Coldplay (This shows results for Chris Martin, but removes anything mentioning Coldplay!)

Top Tip: If your name is very common, consider adding a middle initial or name to your registered Facebook name (e.g., “Sam F Jones” rather than just “Sam Jones”). It makes finding yourself on Google and Facebook searches so much easier, and stops the disappointment of claiming a prize only to find out the winner was a different Sam Jones!

6. Search for typos

Brands are only human, and can make mistakes in their announcements! If you have a name that is easily misspelt, try running a quick search for the incorrect spelling too.

7. Bookmark your searches

Once you have set up a search formula that works perfectly for your names, bookmark it! Press Ctrl+D (or Cmd+D on Mac), or tap the star icon on your mobile browser. Save a few of these bookmarks into a “Comping Checks” folder and click them once a week to see if you have any new hits.

You can also set up a Google Alert for any mentions of your name, at www.google.com/alerts – and Google will email you with new results!